NSSH Part 606

Working Agreements

606.00 Definition

Working agreements are a basis of understanding for cooperative work with other agencies and organizations. These agreements include memoranda of understanding (MOU), contribution agreements, interagency agreements, and trust fund agreements. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or any public agency may initiate working agreements relating to soil survey activities. If another Federal agency initiates a working agreement, the name of the document and the format may be different from those used by the NRCS. Cooperators operate within their own sphere of authority. Guidelines are in subpart 104I-73.101 of the NRCS Property Management Regulations. A memorandum of understanding is not a contract, nor are the plans and specifications agreed upon and contained therein legally binding for the agencies that sign it. The MOU may provide for other working agreements such as contribution agreements, interagency agreements, or trust fund agreements for transfer of funds, services, space, or equipment.

606.01 Policy and Responsibilities

Memoranda of understanding record the intent of the NRCS and one or more cooperators to join together in updating soil survey information, making a soil survey of a specific area, or in performing related soil survey work. The NCSS requires that each soil survey regional office (SSRO) has a memorandum of understanding covering all of the land in the region (referred to as an MLRA region-wide MOU). Other MOUs can be developed (but are not required) as deemed necessary for areas beginning an initial soil survey or for areas undergoing normal updating activities. Examples include: (1) a project soil survey of an individual area such as county or parish (often referred to as an “initial soil survey”), (2) an entire State (through a statewide memorandum of understanding), and (3) an MLRA soil survey area. Any standards, specifications, or other guidance included in optional MOUs must be compatible with the MLRA region-wide MOU.

When developing MOUs or other working agreements, consider the potential need to restrict access to information that may be considered sensitive to national security. This may include information such as background imagery, labels on maps, or other ancillary information. When directed by Department of Defense, Homeland Security, or other responsible Federal officials to restrict the distribution of any information, this directive is to be incorporated into the MOU or other applicable working agreements. See General Manual Title 430.402.6(e) on eDirectives.

Part 104I-73 of the Property Management Regulations (issued 1984) gives specific instructions and authority concerning working agreements such as memoranda of understanding, contribution agreements, and interagency agreements. Other guidance is found in the NRCS Grants and Cooperative Agreements Handbook, and Contribution Agreements Handbook.

When NRCS is to receive outside funds, services, or office space, the state conservationist ensures the preparation of a contribution agreement, interagency agreement, or trust fund agreement in addition to a memorandum of understanding.

Memoranda of Understanding

MLRA Region-wide Memorandum of Understanding

Each of the NRCS soil survey regional offices (SSROs) must have a region-wide memorandum of understanding that covers all the land within the MLRA soil survey region. The memorandum of understanding includes information about the region, the purpose for doing the work, responsibilities of cooperators, and other information that would require signatures of cooperators. New cooperators that did not sign the original MOU can be added by signing at any time.

The soil survey regional director prepares the MLRA region-wide memorandum of understanding for approval by the state conservationists, state agricultural experiment station leaders, and other cooperating agencies as appropriate. The MLRA region-wide memorandum of understanding is an umbrella document necessary to help ensure that maintenance of soil information, soil mapping, and soil interpretation are conducted according to common technical standards within physiographic regions.

The Outline for a Memorandum of Understanding for a MLRA Soil Survey Region.

Heading. Identify the document as a memorandum of understanding between NRCS and the other cooperating organizations that will be signatories, relative to the making and modernization of all soil surveys within the region.

Authority. State the authority for doing the work. It is usually Public Law 74-46, 49 Stat. 163 (16 U.S.C. 590 a-f) and Public Law 89-560. 80 Stat. 706 (42 U.S.C. 3271-3274).

Purpose. Describe the purpose for establishing the MOU. This will generally include general information about the National Cooperative Soil Survey partnership and it’s mission, and the need to complete remaining initial soil survey projects and to improve and coordinate existing soil surveys.

Description of the area. Provide general information about the region such as its physiography, cropping and land use patterns, and land ownership.

Responsibilities. For each of the agencies signing the MOU, list their responsibilities relative to soil survey in the region.

Specifications. Describe the expected products to be produced. Reference the adherence to relevant NCSS standards for describing, classifying, and mapping soils. This section should be general enough to allow for flexibility within the region as appropriate for order of soil surveys, design of map units, kinds of interpretations to be provided , etc., but detailed enough to ensure that NCSS standards will be adhered to for all soil survey activities.

Provide the current non-discrimination statement.

Signatures.

Exhibit 606-1 is an example of an MLRA Region-wide Memorandum of Understanding.

Project Soil Survey Area Memorandum of Understanding (optional)

A project soil survey (i.e., initial soil survey) is a progressive survey that is governed by project management procedures which ensure that all activities (including field work, correlation, digital map preparation, digital map finishing, and the final manuscript draft, for the survey) is completed in 5 years or less from the date of the initial quality assurance review.

The state soil scientist prepares the MOU for a project soil survey area. The Memorandum of Understanding records the purpose of the survey, describes the area, lists cooperators and their responsibilities, and records the specifications for making, documenting, interpreting, and publishing a soil survey for a specific area. The details included within this MOU must be compatible with the MLRA region-wide MOU.

All soil survey projects are to be managed in the context of a major land resource area (MLRA). This approach maintains a consistent scale and level of detail among all of the surveys within the MLRA and enables exact joins among the surveys. All project soil surveys are conceptual subsets of the larger MLRA soil survey areas, of which they are a part. Quality control activities are performed by the soil survey office. The goal is to produce a geographically coordinated soils legend, map, and database irrespective of political boundaries. This assures consistent soil information for each soil across the region, and also facilitates equitable soil-related applications in conservation programs across political boundaries.

The Outline for a Memorandum of Understanding for a Project Soil Survey Area.

Heading. Identify the document as a memorandum of understanding between NRCS and the other cooperating organizations that will be signatories, relative to the making of a soil survey. Coordinate the survey area name and unique identification code with the National Soil Survey Center (Soil Business Systems staff).

Authority. State the authority for doing the work. It is usually Public Law 74-46, 49 Stat. 163 (16 U.S.C. 590 a-f) and Public Law 89-560. 80 Stat. 706 (42 U.S.C. 3271-3274).

Purpose. Determine the purpose, needs, and objectives of a soil survey in consultation with local users and cooperators. Identify the principal potential users. Give specific purposes and uses of the survey, such as for intensive land development, irrigated cropland, commercial timber production, assessment of agricultural land, community development, or multipurpose public recreation. Cite the MLRA region-wide memorandum of understanding, and ensure that objectives of the project soil survey area meet the objectives outlined in the region-wide memorandum.

Description. Give a brief description of the work area, describing location, size, and physiographic composition. If more than one intensity of field operations is planned for the same soil survey area and the extent is significant, show the approximate acreage of each field operation. List the acreage of Federal lands, if significant, that each agency administers. Such agencies are Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Department of Defense, and such lands as Indian Tribal Lands.

Responsibilities. Identify the agencies and their responsibility for the work. Describe the specific kind and amount of work to be done by each cooperating agency that signs the memorandum of understanding. Include field work, laboratory analyses, and special studies. Reference the MLRA region-wide MOU and, if applicable, the state-wide MOU. State clearly that quality control activities are performed by the soil survey office.

Specifications. List the specifications necessary for conducting the work. For example:

Specify the minimum standard or documentation to be used for quality control.

Indicate whether or not small areas of contrasting soils or miscellaneous areas will be shown on the maps using point and/or line features.

Give general guidance on how the field work will be conducted.

Give base imagery data, including the supplying agency, kind, and format, such as full quad or quarter quad orthophoto, and scale to be used in making the soil survey.

Identify supplemental imagery available to assist in field operations and the supplying agency.

Identify major soil interpretations for inclusion in the published survey.

Key Dates. List the key dates selected to organize, manage, and complete the work, and analyze the workload as necessary.

List briefly the plans for publication.

Provide the current non-discrimination statement.

Signatures.

State-Wide Memorandum of Understanding (optional)

Individual states may have a memorandum of understanding with cooperating agencies that pertains to soil surveys in general in the state. These statewide memoranda of understanding are prepared by the state soil scientist to recognize the joint and individual responsibilities of cooperators for the development and utilization of soil surveys in the state. The details included within this MOU must be compatible with the MLRA region-wide MOU. A statewide MOU usually includes:

a title block;

definitions of terms used;

the general purpose of the memorandum;

items of mutual agreement;

items of individual agency agreement; and

signature blocks and dates.

Other Memoranda of Understanding

A MOU may be developed at the discretion of the state conservationist for any other geographic area if it is beneficial to the parties involved. It must be compatible with the MLRA region-wide MOU.

Review, Approval, and Distribution of Memorandum of Understanding

State conservationists of NRCS are responsible for maintaining the adequacy of official soil survey information for state and private lands. They coordinate NRCS activities with others that have responsibility for the adequacy of soil survey information on federally administered lands.

Review. An interdisciplinary, interagency team as appropriate, including administrative support staff reviews the draft (or substantially revised) memorandum of understanding. The state conservationist sends a copy for review and comment to:

each cooperating signer;

other affected state conservationists;

National Soil Survey Center (for MLRA region-wide MOUs only);

Soil Survey Regional Office;

Soil Survey Office;

affected state soil scientists; and

others, as appropriate, such as principal user groups.

Reviewers return the draft copy of the memorandum of understanding to the originating state for resolution of the review comments.

Approval. Upon resolution of all reviewer comments, the state conservationist and the appropriate officials of cooperating agencies approve the memorandum of understanding by signing the document.

Distribution. The state conservationist distributes the original signed memorandum of understanding to the state office administrative services file and copies to:

the Soil Survey Regional Office;

the Soil Survey Office;

each cooperating agency representative who signed the MOU;

the Director, National Soil Survey Center (NSSC);

the Director, Soil Science Division;

the National Geospatial Center Center of Excellence (NGCE);

the Geospatial Research Unit, NSSC; and

other involved States.

Amending an Existing Memorandum of Understanding

Prepare an amendment to the memorandum of understanding if a significant change is made in the work or work area. If the boundaries or other specifications change, issue an amendment to a current memorandum.

Rewrite only the section(s) for which a significant change is being made. Examples of significant changes for project soil surveys are:

the area to be mapped is changed;

the purpose for doing the survey is changed in full or in part;

specific plans for publishing the survey are changed; or

specifications for map scale or format or for text format are changed.

Amendments follow the same review and distribution procedures as outlined for the original memorandum of understanding.

An amendment is not needed if additional cooperators want to sign the original memorandum of understanding after it has been completed. The additional signature page(s) should be forwarded to all the cooperators identified in the document in addition to a new cover page and a statement of the new cooperator’s responsibilities. The former signers do not need to sign the document again.

Description of a Contribution Agreement

Initiate a contribution agreement if funds, services, or office space from outside nonfederal sources are to be received by the NRCS during or after the soil survey work. Refer to subpart 104I-73.103 of the NRCS Property Management Regulations and to 104I-73.300 for a sample of a soil survey contribution agreement. Send a signed copy to the parties of the agreement and to the Director, Soil Science Division. If the NRCS enters a reimbursable agreement with another federal agency and NRCS receives reimbursement for doing soil surveys for that agency, ensure that all costs are covered, including overhead. A current memorandum of understanding must be in effect prior to the development of a contribution agreement.

Description of a Trust Fund Agreement

Initiate a trust fund agreement if funds from outside sources are to be received by the NRCS in advance of the soil survey work (refer to subpart 104I-73.200 of the NRCS Property Management Regulations). Send a copy of the signed agreement to the parties of the agreement and to the Soil Science Division Director.

Description of an Interagency Agreement

With interagency agreements or “joint agreements” with other federal agencies, the agencies use their own authorities. However, there are times when federal agencies co-mingle funds with one agency taking the lead to carry out a mutual undertaking. The program funding authority for each of the agencies must provide specific authority to carry out the undertaking; otherwise they cannot co-mingle funds. The agencies may have to enter into a joint agreement using separate program authorities with no lead agency.

Other Documents Required for Planning and Managing Soil Survey Projects

Soil Survey Offices are required to have:

a long-range plan describing what is needed throughout the assigned area to bring all previous work up to a common, modern standard with the highest priority needs identified and used to develop specific project plans;

a project plan describing the work to be accomplished in addressing one or more priority needs over about a 2 to 5 year period; and

an annual plan of operations.

See Parts 608 and 610 of this handbook for additional information about these documents.

Exhibit 606-1—MLRA Region-wide Memorandum of Understanding

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
NATIONAL COOPERATIVE SOIL SURVEY

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

between the

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
and the
FOREST SERVICE
and the
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
and the
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
and the
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

in IDAHO, MONTANA, OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND WYOMING

and the
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
and the
IDAHO SOIL CONSERVATION COMMISSION
and the
MONTANA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
and the
OREGON AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
and the
WASHINGTON AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTER
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
and the
WYOMING AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING

RELATIVE TO THE MAKING AND MODERNIZATION OF ALL SOIL SURVEYS WITHIN MAJOR LAND RESOURCE AREA SOIL SURVEY REGION 4 - NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION

PURPOSE: The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) partnership have a common objective of providing service to soil survey program participants in an effective and efficient manner.

The purpose of this memorandum of understanding (MOU) is to encourage cooperation and to outline how the NCSS partnership will work together within MLRA Soil Survey Region 4 to bring soil surveys to a common maintenance level. Effective cooperation among participants will improve their respective abilities to provide service to the soil survey program as well as significantly advance the individual partnership mission.

This memorandum of understanding serves as a blanket memorandum of understanding for Major Land Resource Area Soil Survey Region 4. It provides the guidance needed for the Northern Rocky Mountain Region 4 Soil Survey Regional Office to be able to conduct business, such as the completion of an initial soil inventory and continued modernization efforts of the 82 soil surveys within the business area. Work will be done in accordance with National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) standards at a scale of 1:24,000 or 1:12,000. The intent of this memorandum of understanding is to ensure that the soil survey work in the area provides scientifically sound, up-to-date, coordinated soil survey information. The mission of the cooperative soil survey is to assist humankind in understanding and wisely using soil resources to achieve and sustain a desirable quality of life. This mission is achieved by maintaining a strong scientific basis for defining and describing soil landscape relationships important to the use and management of soils; by providing scientific expertise to identify, classify, characterize, correlate, and interpret soils; by making field investigations, remote sensing and laboratory information and its interpretation readily available through texts, maps, digital products, and other databases; and by assisting people in the use of soil survey " information.

There is a need to complete the initial soil inventory. There is also a need to maintain soil survey information that builds on existing soil surveys and develop a coordinated database that addresses local, regional, and national concerns. These projects will enable decision makers to make more informed environmental assessments and resource management decisions. They will also provide more comprehensive soil and site data for (1) managing public and private land, (2) protecting water quality and conserving water quantity, (3) improving and maintaining cropland, rangeland, and forestland, (4) developing wildlife habitat, (5) preparing watershed and urban plans, and (6) providing community and rural development soil interpretations and potentials.

This memorandum of understanding will help to ensure that soil mapping and interpretation are conducted according to common standards within the Northern Rocky Mountain Region. Consequently it serves as the guidance document for developing individual soil survey work load analysis and project plans of operations within the region. Project plans of operations contain the technical standards, specifications, publication plans, staffing plans, and schedules for completing the remaining initial soil surveys in the region, as well as specific priority activities that have been identified for soil survey office staffs. They also include any specific responsibilities of cooperators as related to these projects. Any trust fund agreements or reimbursements between agencies or local units of governments for projects would also be covered by separate contribution, interagency, or trust fund agreements.

This memorandum of understanding supersedes all previous MLRA region-wide memoranda of understanding within this region upon the signature of the last person signing the document.

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK AREA: The Northern Rocky Mountain Major Land Resource Area Soil Survey Region 4 consists of seven MLRAs. These areas cover parts of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. The area consists of approximately 86,274,451 acres. Approximately sixty percent of these acres are federal land.

The MLRAs in Soil Survey Region 4 are: Northern Intermountain Desertic Basins (32), Semiarid Rocky Mountains (33), Northern Rocky Mountains (43A), Central Rocky Mountains (43B), Blue Mountains-Seven Devils (43C), Northern Rocky Mountain Valleys (44), and Northern Rocky Mountain Foothills (46). The region varies from rugged mountains to broad valleys to semi-desert plateaus and basins. Grazing is the leading land use throughout the region but logging is important in some of the forested mountain areas. Irrigation is practiced in some of the valleys and dryland farming in others. Grain and forage for livestock are the main crops. Beans, peas, sugar beets, and seed crops are also grown in places where soils, climate, and markets are favorable.

LAND AREA
ACREAGE TOTALS*

There are about 86,274,451 acres in the region
About 24,796,509 in Idaho
About 36,676,300 in Montana
About 2,178,304 in Oregon
About 2,459,190 in Washington
About 20,164,148 in Wyoming

The US Forest Service Manages about 45,995,992 acres or about 53% of the area
Native American Land is about 3,940,361 acres or about 5%of the area
Other nonfederal land is about25,286,871 acres or about 29% of the area
Bureau of Land Management manages about 6,239,587 acres or about 7% of the area
National Park Service manages about 3,311,906 acres or about 4 % of the area
Other Federal Land about 674,881 or less than 1% of the area
Census water is about 824,853 or about 1% of the area
* Acreage adjusted to coincide with the Soil Survey Region 4 boundary. Acreage values are close approximations.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Technical responsibilities are identified in this section. Administrative responsibilities for acquisition of monies, personnel, equipment, office space, and other in-kind services are also indicated. However, they are contingent upon separate cooperative agreements and trust fund agreements developed by states or units of government.

Lead agencies responsible for project soil surveys will prepare memoranda of understanding (work plans); develop sampling plans and conduct soil investigations; provide the controlled base imagery and supporting cartographic materials for field mapping and publication; prepare the soil survey manuscript(s); and complete the map compilation, digitizing, and map finishing for those surveys.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will:

Characterize the soils by laboratory analyses where appropriate.

Where NRCS is the lead agency, conduct quality assurance reviews, prepare trip reports, quality assurance reports, correlation documents, and provide field technical assistance for soil surveys in the region.

Cooperate with other agencies in providing public relations regarding progress of surveys, uses of soil survey information, and distribution of soil survey data.

Provide technical leadership for soil survey attribute (NASIS) and spatial (SSURGO) data development and provide access to that information for the development of agency products.

Coordinate all soil survey activities across the soil survey region and between other regions for exact joins.

Cooperate in the conduct of the National Cooperative Soil Survey by allowing access to intermingled lands.

Share available soil moisture and temperature, forestland, and rangeland data.

Cooperate in ensuring exact joins between soil survey areas.

Provide guidance and assistance in other phases of the soil survey program.

Reimburse NRCS for the full cost of conducting soil surveys on the lands under the jurisdiction of NPS.

The Idaho Soil Conservation Commission will:

Contribute necessary personnel and equipment to help complete fieldwork of project soil surveys as agreed upon.

Participate in quality assurance reviews, field studies, and soil correlation.

Cooperate in information and education programs regarding the value, use, and availability of soil survey information.

Provide guidance and assistance in other phases of the soil survey program.

The College of Agriculture, University of Idaho; the Washington Agricultural Research Center, Washington State University; and the Agricultural Experiment Stations in Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming will:

Perform research in genesis, morphology, and classification of soils.

Participate in quality assurance reviews, field studies, and soil correlation.

Cooperate in information and education programs regarding the value, use, and availability of soil survey information.

Provide guidance and assistance in other phases of the soil survey program, including the development of appropriate soil survey products.

SPECIFICATIONS: The products expected are coordinated, joined, digitized soil surveys at 1:24,000 or 1:12,000 scales with accompanying attribute soil data in the National Soil Information System (NASIS). Digitizing will be in accordance with the standards of the National Soil Survey Handbook Part 647 for SSURGO Characteristics (647.3), Data Capture Specifications (647.4), and Digital Map Finishing and Print-on-Demand Maps (647.6). Digitized data will not be copyrighted. NRCS reserves the right to archive and distribute data generated under the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding.

Sufficient field documentation will be collected to characterize and describe the map unit concepts as to name, composition, setting, and interpretation. Sufficient field checking of map units in the survey area will be made to ensure that delineations meet the map unit criteria - i.e., the map unit delineations are as described and their components will interpret as stated in the map unit descriptions and tables. The taxonomic classes selected to name map unit components will be represented and supported by a typical pedon. All surveys within this region will be coordinated and a comprehensive digital coverage developed through exact joins.

The program or activities conducted under this Memorandum of Understanding will be in compliance with the non-discrimination provisions contained in the Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Civil Rights Act Restoration Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-259); and other non-discrimination statutes, namely, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975. They will also be in accordance with regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture (7 CFR-15, Subparts A & B), which provide that no person in the United States shall on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, marital status, or handicap be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance from the Department of Agriculture or any agency thereof.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

APPROVAL

IDAHO

Signed _______________________________
State ConservationistUSDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Boise, ID

Signed _______________________________
DirectorUSDI Bureau of Land Management
Boise, ID